System for automating processes

ABSTRACT

There is provided a system for automating processes, the system comprising at least one computer configured to provide at least one virtual user which interacts with applications and/or documents to run at least one automated process. There is also provided a method of running automated processes, the method comprising the steps of providing at least one computer and providing at least one virtual user on the at least one computer which interacts with applications and/or documents to execute at least one automated process.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the running of automated processes.More specifically, it relates to the use of virtual users for automatingprocesses. That is, processes which are presently carried out by amanual transfer of information and commands from one system to anotheror within a single system, for example, may be replicated, using roboticautomation, such that they are performed by one or more virtual users.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is often the case that expected, or unexpected, change requires achange in the way a business must operate. For example, the launch of anew product can require existing systems to be integrated, newregulation can require the recording of process steps or an acquisitioncan require the merging of two product lines and processes. Traditionalenterprise system planning and rollout can absorb these issues; however,these planning cycles are designed for large projects, not supportingeveryday operational change. As a result, changes are implemented atgreat cost and sometimes only over many years, as new systems replacingthe functionality of the original systems and providing the required newfunctionality must be developed and require extensive testing andquality assurance before they can reliably be implemented. These systemsmust also be designed and configured by people with the requiredspecialist skills in computer programming and application development.This adds more time to the development process since there are oftenrelatively few people, if any, with the required skills within anorganization and, once such systems are implemented, the time it takesfor users of the original systems to become acquainted with the newsystems can be long and the process is often characterized byinefficiency and inaccuracy.

The problem arises because back office business processes can ofteninvolve multiple independent and incompatible software applications.Some of these software applications may have application programminginterfaces (APIs) which facilitate the transfer of information in or outof an application by providing a predefined interface through whichanother software application may interact; however this is not alwaysthe case. For example, many of the software applications used in theseback office business processes are old applications designed without thefeatures required to allow easy access by other software applications.Others are custom in-house software solutions created to serve a veryspecific purpose where the need to provide an interface through whichother applications could interact was not foreseen. Traditionally, thisis overcome by using operational staff to bridge the gap between thesesoftware applications. The use of operational staff is an expensivesolution, since large numbers of operational staff may need to beemployed to provide the capacity required. Since the gap between theseincompatible software application or systems is bridged by a human, theprocess is typically slow since operational staff only work for part ofthe day, are limited by the speed at which they can input information orcommands using a keyboard and mouse or any other interface and arelimited by the speed at which they can read information from a screen orother output. Furthermore, humans are susceptible to errors in input ofdata or commands to a system and in reading information from another,which a computer is not. There also exists the possibility, whenoperational staff are used in such a manner, that malicious interferencewith processes, systems and data can occur.

For example, a telecoms provider may launch a new mobile phone handsetwhich requires the use of existing software applications and new systemswhich may be incompatible. This shortfall is usually filled byoperational staff, but often it is not possible to predict the demandfor such newly launched products and so too many or too few staff aretrained to use the software systems. It is, therefore, desirable to fillthis gap between incompatible software systems with a solution whichallows for rapid scaling to cope with demand, without requiring detailedknowledge of the demand up-front.

In such systems, large volumes of information, which may be sensitivepersonal information are often handled. It is also desirable to handlethis information in a consistent manner which reduces the number oferrors that may be associated with a human simply copying informationfrom one system to another and it is also desirable to handle theinformation in a private and secure manner which is only accessible whenabsolutely necessary.

In another example, a bank operates a team of employees to review highrisk customer accounts from which payments are due to be paid but whichhave insufficient funds. The employees use account profiles for eachcustomer to make a decision to either return or process the payments.This arrangement requires that employees are permanently assigned awayfrom customer facing roles. Also the high volumes of decisions take aconsiderable length of time to process, and the treatment of differentcustomer accounts by different employees may be inconsistent andinaccurate.

These problems, which require operational staff to fill in wherepre-existing software applications fall short of the functionalityrequired for a new process to be implemented, are not unique to thebusiness back office. For example, the reception of a hospital ordoctor's surgery is often a busy environment with many patients arrivingfor appointments. Receptionists spend a lot of time carrying out routinetasks such as taking details from patients arriving for appointments andinputting them into a software application which checks the patient infor their appointments. This process is often slow, can be inaccuratedue to patient details being misheard and takes away the receptionists'time from carrying out other duties.

It may be desirable to provide self-service check-in kiosks in thereception of the hospital or doctor's surgery which enable patientsarriving to input their own details to the system so that inaccuraciesare minimised, receptionists are free to deal with other tasks andwaiting times are reduced. However, to provide a patient with the sameinterface as that provided to the receptionist may not be appropriate,since the software applications used by the receptionist is likely tohave more advanced features that are unnecessarily confusing to thepatient or the application may have administrative controls or access toinformation that it would be inappropriate to provide to patients usinga self-service check-in kiosk. Unless the existing receptionistapplication provides the capability for a new application which is runon the self-service kiosks to access certain functions and features, thesame long planning cycles, expense, inefficiency and inaccuracyassociated with change in back office business processes apply when newsoftware applications and systems which provide the requiredfunctionality to implement these systems are developed. This oftenresults in such projects never being undertaken.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of theabove described problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system forrunning automated processes. In a first embodiment, the system comprisesat least one computer configured to provide at least one virtual userwhich interacts with applications and/or documents to run at least oneautomated process.

Preferably, the system further comprises a database accessible by the atleast one automated process, wherein the at least one virtual user isconfigured to execute the at least one automated process utilising datastored in the database.

Preferably, the at least one computer is configured to host at least onevirtual machine and the at least one virtual machine is configured toprovide the at least one virtual user to execute the at least oneautomated process utilising data stored in the database.

Preferably, the at least one computer is configured to host at least onevirtual machine and the system further comprises at least one databaseserver and at least one application server and wherein the at least onevirtual machine is communicatively coupled with the at least onedatabase server and the at least one application server, the at leastone application server is configured to provide instructions to the atleast one virtual machine to execute the at least one automated processand the at least one virtual machine is configured to provide the atleast one virtual user to execute the at least one automated processaccording to the provided instructions utilising data stored in thedatabase.

Preferably, the at least one database server, at least one applicationserver and at least one computer form a first set, and the systemfurther comprises a second set of at least one database server, at leastone application server and at least one computer, wherein the first andsecond sets are communicatively coupled such that the at least oneapplication server of each set and the at least one database of each setmay communicate with each other, at least one application server of oneof the sets is configured to provide instructions to the at least onevirtual machine of at least one of the first and second sets and the atleast one database server of the second set is a mirror of the at leastone database server of the first set.

Preferably, the at least one application server of at least one set isconfigured to manage the connection of the at least one virtual machineof the at least one set to the one or more database servers of the atleast one set.

Preferably, the at least one application server of the at least one setcontains database server credentials for securely accessing the at leastone database server of the at least one set.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machine/virtual user comprises morethan one virtual machine/virtual user, and the virtual machines/virtualusers are grouped into at least one resource pool.

Preferably, the second set is inactive until activated upon failure ofthe first set.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machine is configured such thatremote access is limited to providing instructions to execute automatedprocesses, shutdown the at least one virtual machine, restart the atleast one virtual machine and start up the at least one virtual machine.

Preferably the at least one virtual machine is further configured tocarry out the automated processes by interacting with one or more of: anaccessibility interface, an exposed API and the presentation technologyof an operating system.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machines is further configured tocarry out the automated processes by interpreting HTML elements within aHTML document.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machine is configured to carry outthe at least one automated process by identifying the font used by thetext in a defined region of the user interface and identifying thecharacters of the text in the defined region of the user interface usingthe identified font.

Preferably, the automated processes are defined by a user and configuredto be carried out on data from one or more of software systems,databases or stored files or documents.

Preferably, at least one password required to access specific softwareapplications is stored within an encrypted credential store on the atleast one database server.

Preferably, at least one virtual machine is configured to update the atleast one password stored within the encrypted credential store to arandom password not known outside the system.

In a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method forrunning automated processes. In a first embodiment, the method comprisesthe steps of providing at least one computer and providing at least onevirtual user on the at least one computer which interacts withapplications and/or documents to execute at least one automated process.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of providing adatabase accessible by the at least one automated process and whereinthe at least one virtual user is configured to execute the at least oneautomated process utilising data stored in the database.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of hosting at leastone virtual machine on the least one computer and wherein the at leastone virtual machine is configured to provide the at least one virtualuser to execute the at least one automated process utilising data storedin the database.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of hosting at leastone virtual machine on the at least one computer, providing at least onedatabase server and at least one application server, providing, with theapplication server, instructions to the at least one virtual machine toexecute the at least one automated process, providing the at least onevirtual user by the at least one virtual machine and executing the atleast one automated process on the at least one virtual user accordingto the provided instructions utilising data stored in the database,wherein the at least one virtual machine is communicatively coupled withthe at least one database server and the at least one applicationserver.

Preferably, the at least one database server, at least one applicationserver and at least one computer form a first set and the method furthercomprises the steps of providing a second set of at least one databaseserver, at least one application server and at least one computer,wherein the first and second sets are communicatively coupled such thatthe at least one application server of each set and the at least onedatabase of each set may communicate with each other, configuring atleast one application server of one of the sets to provide instructionsto the at least one virtual machine of at least one of the first andsecond sets and mirroring the at least one database server of the firstset on the at least one database server of the second set.

Preferably, the at least one application server of at least one setmanages the connection of the at least one virtual machine of the atleast one set to the one or more database servers of the at least oneset.

Preferably, the at least one application server of the at least one setcontains database server credentials for securely accessing the at leastone database server of the at least one set.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machine/virtual user comprises morethan one virtual machine/virtual user, and the virtual machines/virtualusers are grouped into at least one resource pool.

Preferably, the second set is inactive until activated upon failure ofthe first set.

Preferably, remote access to the at least one virtual machine is limitedto providing instructions to execute automated processes, shutdown theat least one virtual machine, restart the at least one virtual machineand start up the at least one virtual machine.

Preferably, the at least one virtual machine comprises a standardend-user desktop operating system.

In a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method forrunning automated processes. The method comprises the steps of providinga first computer communicatively coupled to a database, the databasestored on one of the first computer, a second computer, and a databaseserver, configuring the first computer to execute an automated processand executing the automated process using data stored in the database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an implementation of a system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of an alternative implementation of a systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of an alternative implementation of a systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of an alternative implementation of a systemcomprising multiple database servers according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of an alternative implementation of a systemcomprising multiple application servers according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting a method of defining and scheduling theprocesses to be automated.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting a method of identifying characters in adesignated area of a graphical user interface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described with reference to thefigures.

A system for automating processes, according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention, comprises a computer which may be configured toprovide at least one virtual user. A virtual user interacts withelements on the same or different computer, such as applications and/ordocuments, to execute automated processes. The automated processexecuted by the virtual user may be a process currently carried out by ahuman user, e.g. transferring data between two incompatible softwareapplications, or any of the examples of tasks carried out by human userspreviously described. A virtual user is, for example, an automatedsystem, such as that described herein, which can be used to carry outthe automated processes. For example, in the previously describedexample of a bank, one or more employees may be replaced by one or morevirtual users which interact with the account profiles of customers withinsufficient funds to make a payment. The virtual users review theaccount profiles of each customer by taking into account the variousparameters that may be associated with such an account, and making adecision to either return or process the payments according to apredefined set of rules for doing do. This arrangement has theadvantages of i) freeing up employees to be used in other roles, ii)providing consistency and accuracy across the decisions which are madeand iii) processing the payments faster. As will be described below, theuse of one or more virtual users also has the advantages of improvedsecurity, increased scalability and lower costs, among others.

Within the system, the at least one virtual user is configured tointeract with applications and/or files to execute at least oneautomated process. The system for automating processes may be incommunication with a database which holds data utilised in the automatedprocesses. The database may be stored on the computer configured toexecute the automated processes, or may be stored on a second computeror a dedicated database server. Throughout this specification, the term“server” should be considered to encompass both software and dedicatedhardware servers, unless otherwise explicitly stated. The computer mayitself be configured to execute the automated processes (i.e. it mayprovide the one or more virtual users), or may be configured to host oneor more virtual machines which provide the one or more virtual users,i.e. one virtual machine provides one or more virtual users each ofwhich interacts with elements present within the virtual machine or adifferent computer or virtual machine, such as applications and/ordocuments, to execute automated processes. Implementing virtual userswithin virtual machines enables multiple virtual users to be provided onthe same hardware and allows for improved scalability as virtualmachines can be more easily added, removed and configured than dedicatedhardware. The system may also further include a terminal which can beused to configure and run the automated processes.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system implemented according to one variationof the first embodiment of the present invention in which at least onevirtual machine is utilised. The system 100 comprises at least onecomputer which is configured to host the at least one virtual machine102, a database server 106 and a terminal 108.

The virtual machines 102 provide virtual users which are configured toexecute one or more automated processes using applications stored on thevirtual machines and data stored on the database server 106. Theexecution of the automated processes on the virtual machines 102 by thevirtual users may be controlled by the terminal 108. The terminal 108may be configured to allow the definition of schedules defining theprocesses to be executed by the virtual users on the virtual machines102.

The system may also include an application server. The applicationserver may be hosted on the same physical computer as the virtualmachines and/or the database, or may be hosted on a separate dedicatedcomputer or server. The function of the application server will bedescribed in more detail with reference to the following figures.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a system 200 implemented according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. The system 200 comprises aplurality of virtual machines 202, which provide a plurality of virtualusers, an application server 204 and a database. The database may behosted on a database server 206 in a preferred embodiment which isdiscussed below. The application server 204 may be a single physicalserver or a virtual server. Similarly, the database server 206 may be asingle physical server or a virtual server.

The virtual machines 202, application server 204 and database server 206are networked such that they may communicate with each other. The system200 is configured such that the application server 204 allocatesautomated processes to the virtual machines 202 for execution by the oneor more virtual users. The automated processes allocated by theapplication server 204 and executed by virtual users on the virtualmachines 202 are processes defined by a user to be carried out on datapresent in one or more of software systems, databases, stored files ordocuments.

In the second embodiment, the virtual machines 202 are persistentvirtualised instances of standard end-user operating systems, preferablyMicrosoft Windows®. Preferably, the virtual machines 202 exist on one ormore secure servers which cannot be accessed, physically or remotely,without appropriate security clearance or authentication. The servers onwhich the virtual machines exist preferably run Type 1 hypervisors suchas VMware ESX®; however, it will be appreciated that any suitablearrangement of hardware and software permitting the creation and runningof virtual machines may be used. The virtual machines 202 are headlessin the sense that they do not have a connected monitor or similar outputdevice which displays a graphical output. By running multiple virtualmachines 202, multiple virtual users may execute multiple automatedprocesses simultaneously on the same hardware to improve productivity orserve multiple external users concurrently.

Preferably, remote access to the virtual machines 202 is restricted oncethey have been configured. The ability to remotely restart, shutdown andstart up the virtual machines 202 is the only remote access requiredexcept for the capability for the at least one application server 204 toprovide instructions to the virtual machines 202 and thus the virtualusers to execute a process. Such an arrangement provides additionalsecurity to the system, since it is not possible to remotely interferewith the automated processes running on the virtual machines 202. Thisarrangement also provides additional security over the use ofoperational staff to carry out the processes which are automated by thevirtual users on the virtual machines 202. It is not possible tomaliciously or accidentally carry out the process in a different mannerfor different data without the correct authorisation, and theauthorisation does not need to be provided to anyone who is notadministering the system.

Where passwords are required to access applications essential to theautomated processes being executed by the virtual users on the virtualmachines 202, the passwords are stored in an encrypted credential store.Preferably, the credential store will be encrypted using Triple DataEncryption Standard (DES) and be stored on the database server, althoughany suitable encryption standard can be used and the credential storemay be stored in any suitable location, such as on the applicationserver or the virtual machine. The automated processes can be configuredsuch that the passwords stored in the credential store are periodicallyupdated to a secure, random password which is not known outside thesystem 200. Since the passwords protecting applications which haveaccess to sensitive information such as customer information, bankdetails etc. are stored in an encrypted credential store on the virtualmachines 202 and are not provided to operational staff, the security ofthese systems and applications and the information contained within isgreatly improved. Requests for credentials from the credential store mayalso be authenticated on the basis of the ID of the virtual machine 202and the ID of the process requesting the credential. This ensures thatonly authoirized machines, virtual users and processes can be grantedaccess to the information within the credential store. The virtualmachines 202 may authenticate with application servers 204 using aWindows Credential Provider.

System administrators and users can, optionally, be authenticated usingMicrosoft Active Directory, linking their roles and permissions to anexisting domain structure.

The application server 204 is configured to manage the connections ofthe virtual machines 202 to the database server 206. The applicationserver 204 holds the database server security credentials, such as forWindows Authentication or Structured Query Language (SQL)Authentication, and behaves as a secure connection proxy for thedatabase such that all of the virtual machines 202 communicate with theapplication server 204 and the application server 204 communicatessecurely with the database server 206 on behalf of the virtual machines202. This arrangement allows the application server 204 to be the onlyplace within the system 200 which needs to store the database serversecurity credentials with the correct authentication to access andmodify the data stored on the database server 206. Since the databaseserver security credentials are only stored in one place within thesystem 200, the security of the system is improved over the storage ofsecurity credentials on each virtual machine 202 and also providesimproved security over current multiple user multiple password systems.

The database server 206 is preferably a SQL Server database. Thedatabase server 206 holds one or more SQL Server databases which hold arepository of processes and objects related to the automated processes,user credentials, audit information, process logs and workflowconfiguration and scheduling information for the automated processes.Multiple SQL schema can be present on one database server 206,permitting different virtual users on the virtual machines 202 toexecute different automated processes referring to different sets ofinformation stored within the database of the database server 206.

The database server 206 also stores work queues. Work queues enable datarequiring processing to be stored in order to enable distribution acrossthe system of the processes to be executed by the virtual users on thevirtual machines 202. Process stage information, which is simply anumber, for example, indicating the current stage of a process enablingthe process to be paused and resumed, and exception details are alsostored in the work queues. Data are populated into the work queueseither via direct database population, APIs or by the virtual machinesor virtual users accessing an existing workflow system or some otherinformation store such as a spreadsheet, email or other file mechanismand using the queue to hold a reference to each item worked. Forexample, a process to be automated may involve reading data from one ormore files and carrying out an action in response to or on the data.Once the data has been read from the one or more files, it may be storedin a work queue such that the virtual users on virtual machines 202 cantake data from the work queue with or on which to carry out a process.

Work queues can also be encrypted, providing a further layer of securityfor the data within the work queue. The data which is stored in workqueues may include, for example, personal details of customers includingbank details, addresses, birth dates etc., or many other examples ofsensitive information. Hence, such security is important in someembodiments.

The terminal 208 is used to define the automated processes to be run onsystem 200, as described in relation to FIG. 3 , and to view the virtualmachines 202. The terminal 208 may also be used to define schedules ofautomated processes to be carried out by the virtual users on thevirtual machines 202 and for administrators to view, start and stopprocesses being executed by the virtual users on the virtual machines202 manually. The processes may be started and stopped outside of thescheduling system using the terminal 208.

In the second embodiment, the application server 204 is configured tocarry out defined schedules by providing instruction(s) to the virtualmachines 202 to execute individual processes.

Alternatively to the application server 204 controlling both thescheduling of processes and managing the connections of the virtualmachines 202 to the database server 206. The application server 204 mayonly be responsible for the scheduling of processes, and a separateapplication or server may be configured to manage the connections of thevirtual machines 202 to the database server 206.

Carrying out processes, which are presently typically carried out byoperational staff, on the system described herein allows the steps ofthe process to be carried out consistently and without error, and alsoallows the process steps to be recorded. Recorded process steps can beanalysed to improve the speed at which processes are carried out andalso to improve the processes themselves.

FIG. 3 depicts a system 300 in accordance with a third embodiment of theinvention. The systems 300 a and 300 b each consist of virtual machines302 a and 302 b, on which virtual users are provided, applicationservers 304 a and 304 b and database servers 306 a and 306 b. Aspreviously discussed in relation to the second embodiment, theapplication servers 304 a and 304 b and database servers 306 a and 306 bmay be physical servers or virtual servers or a combination thereof,they may be single servers or multiple servers and set up in any waypreviously described. Network 308 connects the application servers 304 aand 304 b and database servers 306 a and 306 b. Network 308 may be alocal area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). The systems 300 aand 300 b may be disposed at the same site or at different sites.

Preferably, the scheduling and allocation of processes to the virtualusers on virtual machines 302 a and 302 b across both systems 300 a and300 b is carried out by one of the application servers 304 a and 304 b.In this case, if one of the application servers 304 a and 304 b fails,or one of the systems 300 a and 300 b fails, the scheduling andallocation of automated processes can be taken over by the other of oneof the application servers 304 a and 304 b, if necessary. In this way,execution of automated processes can continue on at least one of thesets of virtual machines 302 a and 302 b.

Alternatively, a master application server may be responsible for thescheduling and allocating of processes to virtual users on virtualmachines 302 a and 302 b across both systems 300 a and 300 b. Thisarrangement also allows the execution of processes by the virtual usersto continue on at least one set of the virtual machines 302 a and 302 bshould one of the systems 300 a and 300 b or one of the applicationservers 304 a and 304 b fail.

The database server 306 b is a mirror of database server 306 a. Thisconfiguration caters for the failure of an application server 304 a or304 b or a database server 306 a or 306 b, or both. If systems 300 a and300 b are located at different sites, then this configuration willenable the execution of the automated processes to continue at thesecond site should one of the sites fail, for example, due to a poweroutage. Alternatively, system 300 b may be located at the same site or aseparate site and be initially inactive, becoming active upon a failureat the first site. In the event of a failure, the application server 304a or 304 b of the functioning set adjusts the allocation of processes.In the case that a master application server is responsible for thescheduling and allocation of processes, the master application servermay adjust the allocation of processes,

FIG. 4 depicts an alternative to the second and third embodiments inwhich multiple database servers 206 may be present in the system. In thefollowing example, three database servers are discussed, but this ismerely exemplary. The database servers 406 a, 406 b and 406 c may eachhold different databases and the applications server 404 may beassociated with all of the database servers 406 a, 406 b and 406 c.Alternatively, there may be multiple application servers 404 and eachapplication server may hold the credentials for all of the databaseservers 406 a, 406 b and 406 c. In a further alternative, the number ofapplication servers 404 may equal the number of database servers 406 a,406 b and 406 c where each application server 404 may hold thecredentials for only one database 406 a, 406 b or 406 c. Such anarrangement of multiple databases allows for multiple distinct sets ofautomated processes to be run using the same virtual machines 402 whilereferencing different databases.

Where multiple database servers 406 a, 406 b and 406 c are used, thedatabase servers 40 may be configured to hold the same database, withone or more of the database servers 206 being a mirror of a masterdatabase server. This arrangement provides redundancy and should one ofthe servers stop functioning, allows the processes executed by thevirtual users on the virtual machines 202 to continue.

FIG. 5 depicts a further alternative to the above described second andthird embodiments, in which there may be more than one applicationserver 204. The application servers 504 a, 504 b and 504 c may all bededicated servers, all virtual servers or a combination thereof. In anembodiment in which there are multiple application servers 204, oneserver may be nominated as a master scheduler server, which is in chargeof carrying out the scheduling and issuing instructions to the virtualmachines 202 to execute processes. Each of the application servers 204maintains a duplicate set of credentials for authentication with thedatabase server 206. Such an arrangement of the application servers 504a, 504 b and 504 c creates redundancy in the system which provides afailsafe should one or two of the application servers 504 a, 504 b and504 c fail, allowing the automated processes being executed by virtualusers on virtual machines 502 to continue. It will be appreciated thatthe number of application servers in such an arrangement may be anynumber greater than two and that three are depicted here as an example.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart 600 of the process of defining the automatedprocesses which are to be executed by the virtual users on the virtualmachines 202.

The automated processes carried out by the system 100, 200, 300, 400 or500 may involve getting information from or inputting information intosoftware applications. For software applications without an existing,dedicated API, enabling interaction with other software applications andthe automated processes is achieved by creating computer interactiveobjects which may be accessed by the automated processes to both inputand output information from the software applications. This process iscarried out in step 602 according to the following methods.

If the existing software application implements accessibility featuresfor example, Java applications and applets that implement the JavaAccessibility API or Windows applications which implement the MicrosoftActive Accessibility API or IAccessible2, it is possible to capture theaccessibility interface definitions and use these to create computerinteractive objects.

Alternatively, if the application is a HyperText Markup Language (HTML)web application or document, it is possible to parse the HTML of the webpage to identify HTML elements and use these definitions to createcomputer interactive objects linked to the web application which may beaccessed by the user defined processes.

A preferred HTML parser uses the Document Object Model (DOM)implementation provided by Microsoft Internet Explorer's MSHTMLIHTMLDocument2 interface. In an embodiment, this is combined withattributes of the graphical user interface (GUI) window in which theHTML web application or document is displayed, the uniform resourcelocator (URL) of the HTML web application or document and the HTML pathin order to create unique identifiers for the computer interactiveobjects.

Computer interactive objects may also be defined for softwareapplications with existing exposed APIs, such as using Window objects,Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), High Level Language Application ProgrammingInterface (HLLAPI) interfaces for mainframe terminals and hooking COMcomponents, such that they are accessible by the automated processes inthe same manner as the computer interactive objects defined for softwareapplications without existing APIs. The presentation layer, i.e. theuser interface as it is presented on the screen, can also be used todefine computer interactive objects and to interpret the controls sentto an application. This may be achieved by using the presentationtechnology: underlying components within that application and theapplication's host operating system that are responsible forcommunicating and drawing the windows and controls that a user sees andwhich handles the user's interactions with them, e.g. the underlyingcontrol, mouse and keyboard messages between Windows and the applicationand the applications' COM components that manage the controls and handlethe users interactions.

The previously discussed methods of creating computer interactiveobjects linked to software applications which may be accessed by theuser defined processes rely upon specific features of the implementationof the software. However, these features are not always present.Thin-client applications may run on a separate computer system to thesystem with which a user interacts with keyboard and mouse input andgraphical output, providing only a graphical user interface (GUI) at theuser's system. In the system of the present invention, the automatedprocesses may need to interact with a thin client application and, sincethe only component of the thin-client application which is present onthe system on which the automated process is executed is the GUI of thethin client application, the only possible interface from which tocreate a computer interactive object is the GUI.

A computer interactive object relating to the GUI of an application,such as in the case of a thin-client application, can be created,according to an embodiment of the invention, by defining regions of theGUI to be interpreted as input or output fields. If the defined regionis an output field, then the contents of the field are interpreted byidentifying the font used in the defined region, identifying thecharacters of the text in that defined region by comparing them tocharacters of the identified font and outputting the identifiedcharacters as a string, which can be interpreted on the computer system.The method of interpreting text displayed in the GUI is discussed below,in relation to FIG. 7 .

In step 604, once computer interactive objects have been defined for thesoftware applications required for use in the automated processes,sessions are defined to make use of the defined computer interactiveobjects as well as database information, stored files and documents.Sessions are the pre-defined individual processes run by the virtualusers on the virtual machines 202. The actions which make up a sessionmay consist of locating a file, reading in data from the file andplacing the data in a work queue, for example.

In step 606, the sessions defined in step 604 are grouped into tasks.Tasks are collections of sessions which are grouped together andexecuted in parallel. Within a task, individual sessions are allocatedto a particular virtual machine 202 or resource pool, such that when thetask is executed, the application server 204 transmits instructions tothe virtual machines 202 or resource pool to carry out the session orsessions allocated to them.

A resource pool is a grouping of a set of virtual users/virtual machines202 into a pool which can be addressed as a combined unit. Externally, aresource pool appears and behaves like an individual virtualuser/virtual machine 202 in that it can be allocated processes by theapplication server 204 according to the defined schedule. Internally,when a resource pool is instructed to execute a process, it does so byautomatically selecting one of the virtual users/virtual machines 202which belong to the pool.

A resource pool has a controller which takes the instructions for thewhole resource pool. The controller may be a virtual user/virtualmachine 202 within the resource pool, or may be the application server204.

In the case that a virtual user/virtual machine 202 is controller of aresource pool, rather than an application server 204 being thecontroller, all virtual users/virtual machines 202 within the resourcepool are addressable by the application server 204. The virtualusers/virtual machines 202 which are not the controller forward incomingmessages from the application server 204 to the controller and forwardresponses from the controller to the application server 204. Theidentity of the virtual user/virtual machine 202 acting as thecontroller is recorded in a database stored on the database server 206,with a timestamp and is updated by the controller via the applicationserver 204. In the case that this database record goes stale, indicatingthat the virtual user/virtual machine 202 acting as the controller hasceased to act as the controller such as when it has experienced an errorand failed, another virtual user/virtual machine 202 may take over asthe controller of the resource pool. The database record eliminatesconcurrency issues since two virtual users/virtual machines 202 cannotupdate the database record simultaneously, therefore two virtualusers/virtual machines 202 cannot simultaneously attempt to take over ascontroller of the resource pool.

In the event that the controller ceases to function, the other virtualusers/virtual machines 202 in the resource pool will be able to detectthis quickly, since they will no longer be able to communicate with thecontroller directly.

The arrangement of virtual users/virtual machines 202 into resourcepools has the advantage of providing both redundancy in the case offailure and scalability for coping with increased demand. By allocatingsessions within tasks to resource pools, rather than the individualvirtual users/virtual machines 202, if one of the virtual machines 202or virtual users were to fail, another virtual user could execute thesession in its place without user intervention. Allocation of sessionsto resource pools also enables the system to cope with increased demand,by spreading out the required work to more of the virtual users onvirtual machines 202 when it is required. It is also possible to addmore virtual machines 202 and virtual users to a resource pool,increasing the capacity of the resource pool if it is required.

In step 608, the tasks defined in step 606 are placed in a schedule. Aschedule contains a tree of tasks which are performed sequentially.Within a schedule, each task defines the next task or activity to beperformed upon either successful completion of the task or an exceptionbeing raised. The time and date on which schedules are run is alsodefined. For example, a schedule can be defined to run only once, at agiven date and time, or at varied intervals. This can be done on acalendar type basis, for example only running a particular schedule onworking days and within working hours. Schedules may also runindefinitely from a given start point, or may be retired at a particulartime and date.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is possible to view a timetablewhich displays the times at which schedules are defined to run within agiven time period using the terminal.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is possible for processes to beexecuted outside of the scheduling system; for example, by manualcontrol by a user or by an external system. The processes may beaccessible to external systems via an API. For example, when anautomated process is required on-demand or in response to a particularaction, an API call may place the process in the work queue. By makingthe processes externally accessible, the system can be used inenvironments which require the processes to be executed on somethingother than a pre-defined schedule. For example, the self-service checkin kiosks discussed above need only to execute the process required tocheck a patient in (and any further actions which may follow from apatient checking in) when a patient checks in.

Upon completion of a schedule, whether because a defined schedule hasrun its course and has ended, because the schedule was retired asdefined, or because an error occurred, for example, the results of aschedule are saved to reports for later viewing.

The scheduling, the definition of computer interactive objects and thedefinition of processes means that tasks are automated at a high level.This results in less training being required for non-IT specific peopleto configure the system to automate processes and allows for a rapidresponse to changing requirements while avoiding traditional enterprisedevelopment cycles.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart which depicts the method 700 used to carry outthe process of interpreting text in defined regions. At step 702, thefont used by the application is identified by a user. The user in thisinstance may be the person configuring the system and computerinteractive objects for use in executing the automated processes, forexample. Typically, the fonts used in the user interface of anapplication are operating system dependent. At step 704, a twodimensional pixel representation is generated for each character in thefont. Preferably, the two dimensional pixel representation is an arrayof Boolean values, with each element in the array representing anindividual pixel and the value representing whether or not the pixel isused by the character. Preferably, every array has the same number ofvertical elements. For example, the array representing a full stopextends as far down as the lowest hanging character and as high as thetallest character. The character arrays are preferably stored inExtensible Mark-up Language (XML) format, but can be stored in any othersuitable manner.

At step 706, a bitmap of the defined region is converted into the sametwo-dimensional pixel representation as that used for the fontcharacters. This involves cleaning the bitmap so that any pixels whichdo not form part of the font are discarded. This is carried out byassuming that all of the pixels of the bitmap are “paper”, i.e. thepixel is determined to be part of the background on which the text isset. As the bitmap is scanned, pixels which match a specified foregroundcolour are marked as “ink”, i.e. they form part of the text. The resultof this conversion is a “canvas” which represents the charactersdisplayed in the defined region of the GUI. As previously described,this representation is preferably a two-dimensional array of Booleanvalues.

Alternatively, the bitmap of the defined region may be filtered to near16 bits such that colours are replaced by a 16-bit colour palette exceptfor a specified background colour, which is left at its 32 bit value.For each row of the filtered image the dominant colour of the row isfound. If the dominant colour is not the background colour, all pixelson the row of the dominant colour will be replaced by with thebackground colour. Using this bitmap, the canvas is produced by assumingthat all of the pixels are ink and scanning through each pixel, markingpixels as paper if they match the specified background colour.

At step 708 the canvas is scanned for characters until a character isfound. In a first method of scanning the canvas, the canvas is trimmedsuch that there are no blank columns (i.e. columns only containingpaper) before or after any columns containing ink and such that theblank rows above and below the rows containing ink match the maximumwhitespace above and below characters specified in the font.

At step 710 the canvas is matched against a font by comparing the mask,which is the arrangement of ink in the character disregarding any paper,against the mask of the canvas, of a font character. The canvas istested from the top left to the bottom right, going vertically downfirst. It will be appreciated that other suitable methods of scanningthe canvas may also be used. For each point in the canvas, eachcharacter in the font is tested to see if the ink defined in thecharacter mask is represented as ink on canvas. If multiple charactersmatch, the character with the most ink is chosen. If characters havealready been found, any subsequent matches which start on a differentrow are disregarded. The spacing between characters is estimatedaccording to the typical spacing between characters defined in the font.

At step 712, the process moves past the identified character. This maybe done by simply continuing to scan from a position beyond theidentified character, or the identified character ink may be deletedfrom the canvas to prevent the character from being identified twice orfrom interfering with the identification of other characters. If thescanning process has not reached the end of the canvas after moving pastthe identified carrier, the scanning process resumes until the nextcharacter is found or until the end of the canvas is reached. If the endof the canvas has been reached, at step 714 the interpreted text isoutput.

It will be appreciated that this description is by way of example only;alterations and modifications may be made to the described embodimentwithout departing from the scope of the invention as defined in theclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for running automated processescomprising: a first computer configured to provide a plurality ofvirtual users which simultaneously interact with an end-user applicationaccording to at least one automated process, the first computer beingconfigured to host a plurality of virtual machines; a first databaseserver; and a first application server, wherein: each virtual machine iscommunicatively coupled with the first database server and the firstapplication server; the first application server is configured toprovide instructions to the plurality of virtual machines to execute theat least one automated processes; each virtual machine is configured torun an instance of the end-user application having a software interfacecomprising one or more computer interactive objects corresponding to agraphical user interface of the end-user application, the softwareinterface located on the virtual machine; and each virtual machine isconfigured to provide at least one of the plurality of virtual users,and wherein the at least one virtual user executes the at least oneautomated process according to the provided instructions utilizing datastored in the first database server by interacting with the end-userapplication via the software interface by accessing the computerinteractive objects to input information to the end-user application andto output information from the end-user application.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first database server, first application server andfirst computer form a first set, the system further comprising a secondset comprising a second database server, a second application server anda second computer, wherein: the first and second sets arecommunicatively coupled such that the first application server and thesecond application server, and the first database server and the seconddatabase server communicate with each other; the first applicationserver or the second application server is configured to provideinstructions to the plurality of virtual machines of at least one of thefirst and second sets; and the second database server is a mirror of thefirst database server.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the firstapplication server is configured to manage a connection of the pluralityof virtual machines of the first set to the first database server, orwherein the second application server is configured to manage aconnection of the plurality of virtual machines of the second set to thesecond database server.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the firstapplication server contains database server credentials for securelyaccessing the first database server, or wherein the second applicationserver contains database server credentials for securely accessing thesecond database server.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein the second setis inactive until activated upon failure of the first set.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the virtual machines are grouped into at least oneresource pool.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual machinesare configured such that remote access to each virtual machine islimited to providing instructions to execute automated processes,shutdown the virtual machine, restart the virtual machine and start upthe virtual machine.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtualmachines are further configured to carry out the at least one automatedprocess by interpreting the HTML elements within the HTML document. 9.The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual machines are configured tocarry out the at least one automated process by identifying a font usedby text in a defined region of a user interface and identifyingcharacters of the text in the defined region of the user interface usingthe identified font.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneautomated process is defined by a user and configured to be carriedusing data from one or more of software systems, databases or storedfiles or documents.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein at least onepassword required to access specific software applications is storedwithin an encrypted credential store on the first database server. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the virtual machines are configured toupdate the at least one password stored within the encrypted credentialstore to a random password not known outside the system.
 13. The systemof claim 1, the virtual users are grouped into at least one resourcepool.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the software interface is oneor more of: an accessibility interface, an exposed Application ProgramInterface (API), a presentation technology of an operating system, andHyperText Markup Language (HTML) elements within a HTML document.
 15. Amethod of running automated processes comprising: providing a firstcomputer; providing a first database server and a first applicationserver; providing a plurality of virtual users on the first computerwhich interact with simultaneously an end-user application according toat least one automated process; hosting a plurality of virtual machineson the first computer, wherein each virtual machine is communicativelycoupled with the first database server and the first application serverand wherein each virtual machine is configured to provide at least oneof the plurality of virtual users and to run an instance of the end-userapplication, the end-user application having a software interfacecomprising one or more computer interactive objects corresponding to agraphical user interface of the end-user application, the softwareinterface located on the virtual machine; providing, with the firstapplication server, instructions to the plurality of virtual machines toexecute the at least one automated process; and executing the at leastone automated process by the plurality of virtual users according to theprovided instructions utilizing data stored in the first database serverby interacting with the end-user application via the software interfaceby accessing the computer interactive object to input information fromthe end-user application and output information from the end-userapplication.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first databaseserver, first application server and first computer form a first set andwherein the method further comprises: providing a second set of a seconddatabase server, a second application server and a second computer,wherein the first and second sets are communicatively coupled such thatthe first application server and the second application server and thefirst database and the second database may communicate with each other;configuring first application server or the second application server toprovide instructions to the plurality of virtual machines of at leastone of the first and second sets; and mirroring the first databaseserver on the second database server.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein first application server manages a connection of the pluralityof virtual machines of the first set to the first database server, orwherein the second application server manages a connection of theplurality of virtual machines of the second set to the second databaseserver.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first application serverof the first set contains database server credentials for securelyaccessing the first database server, or wherein the second applicationserver of the second set contains database server credentials forsecurely accessing the second database server.
 19. The method of claim16, wherein the virtual machines are grouped into at least one resourcepool.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the second set is inactiveuntil activated upon failure of the first set.
 21. The method of claim16, wherein remote access to each virtual machine is limited toproviding instructions to execute automated processes, shutdown thevirtual machine, restart the virtual machine and start up the virtualmachine.
 22. The method of claim 16 wherein each virtual machinecomprises a standard end-user desktop operating system.
 23. The methodof claim 16, the virtual users are grouped into at least one resourcepool.
 24. The method of claim 15, wherein the software interface is oneor more of: an accessibility interface, an exposed Application ProgramInterface (API), a presentation technology of an operating system, andHyperText Markup Language (HTML) elements within a HTML document.